We left Gig Harbor, WA in 2009 and spent 3 winters in the Sea of Cortez then sailed to the Galapagos Islands, French Polynesia up to Hawaii, then to San Francisco Bay. We are once again enjoying the Sea of Cortez as we plan our next adventure.

Mother's Day

The New Arrivals05/08/2011, Isla Coronados

While enjoying Mother's Day on Isla Coronados we came across one of the Seagull nests that we'd seen when we passed through a few weeks ago. Only today we were delighted to see a couple new chicks where only eggs had been before!

It's kind of hard to pick them out in the picture because the chicks seem to be the same speckled camouflage color that the eggs were. If you look close you can see one egg still in the middle of the nest with one chick near by and the other one up near the brush above the nest.

We began the day hoisting the anchor at Punta Pulpito during a spectacular sunrise and after about an hour a light breeze came up and we were able to hoist the Spinnaker and enjoy the ride over the gently lapping seas.

You may have noticed from a lot of my posts that much of the "sailing" in the Sea of Cortez turns out to be motor sailing or just out and out motoring, so we love it when we actually get to be a true sailboat again. We've found sailing in the Sea to be much like sailing in Puget Sound -- you can do a lot of sailing if you're just going out to sail, but if you've got a specific destination that you want to get to you usually have to use the engine at least part of the way to be sure to get there before night fall. But on this short passage from Punta Pulpito to Isla Coronados we had plenty of time to get there so we enjoyed the luxury of being a sailboat again. There's nothing quite like the sound of a sailboat slipping through the water.

looks like fun....wayless clothng than we`are wearing up here in Canada! As far as sailing goes, we have this pointy thing at the top of the mast that always seems to point right where we are going!! I guess it works good 'eh? we will be down there soon...

Popcorn Rays

05/06/2011, Punta Pulpito

Our second stop on our trip south brought us back to Punta Pulpito where we stayed over a day so we could enjoy the area a bit. We had a great day of snorkeling and both of the beautiful sunsets were enjoyed while watching small rays jump out of the water all around us! We'd just been remarking a day earlier how we haven't seen many rays jumping this year, and then we were treated to two spectacular shows!

We are "on the road again" heading south with plans to linger and enjoy all the beautiful anchorages in the Loreto area for the next two weeks. We're hoping that the crowds of boats that have been in the area following the big 3 day event in Puerto Escondido called Loretofest, are beginning to thin out as boats disperse for their summer plans. May is the month when people that haven't already left the Sea for the South Pacific or Central America either put their boat somewhere safe for the summer (in a marina or on the hard) and return home, or they begin the journey to the far north Sea to weather out the hot summer months.

How is the sailing? are you able to use the spinnaker. We are done washing and waxing, now a little varnish and Interlude will be ready to head north and chase the dungess crab..

On the road again......

another beautiful shell beach....05/04/2011, Santo Domingo

After a week and a day in lovely Santa Rosalia, we untied the docklines to begin our journey south. We stayed just a little longer than we originally planned in Santa Rosalia due to a BIG norther that blew for a few days creating BIG seas that nobody wanted to venture out in. So Wednesday morning, May 4th, boats throughout the Sea left their safe anchorages to be on their way, whether going north or south.

We went as far as Santo Domingo at the head of Bahia Conception. We stopped at this anchorage last fall as we headed south and it was a miserable rolly anchorage and we didn't bother to go to shore. But this time, with winds and seas predicted from the ESE it looked to be the perfect anchorage and it was. We enjoyed walking and the shell strewn beach before a nice swim and had a peaceful, calm night.

Hola mi amigos. I can't thank you enough for allowing me to stay on your boat for the good, the bad and the ugly. WOW Clint would be proud of that. I had the best time with you guys and can't wait to sail again. It was the time of my life, you are both very gracious hostesses. Adios miss Rosie and crewmates

Back Home Again.... in Santa Rosalia

04/25/2011, Santa Rosalia, BCS, Mexico

As we entered the harbor here at Santa Rosalia we had a sense of coming home, just as we do when we get to La Paz.

Santa Rosalia is where Cetus spent a few months last summer when we went back "home" to the States and we spent many weeks before and after our trip. It's also where we rescued a little street cat we named Rosie who has become a great boat cat and nice addition to the Cetus crew.

We had a warm welcome as the marina workers grabbed our lines and greeted us, remembering us from last year, so we're very happy we decided to make the trip north to enjoy this charming place one more time before turning south again.

So now we have three places we call home: Gig Harbor because that's where we are from, La Paz where we have spent the last two winters and Santa Rosalia, our "summer" home.

Hola team... Saw both of your articles in 48 North & Good old boat. Great Job. On our way back to the boat in San Carlos.

Heading South

11/23/2010, The Sea of Cortez

Carly flew out of Loreto yesterday at noon and finally got home about midnight last night after her flight was delayed leaving LA and then dealing with the snow and high wind conditions in the Seattle area for her ride home.

We left Puerto Escondido early this morning enjoying a beautiful sunrise behind Isla Danzante. We're hoping to make it a long travel day with some wind for sailing since tomorrow the winds are supposed to die -- the calm before the storm -- as a big norther is supposed to blow hard Thursday and Friday so we'll be tucked into a protected anchorage for 2 or 3 days before continuing on towards La Paz.

We returned to Puerto Escondido after our 3 island tour and caught up with our old friends on Prairie Oyster who returned to the Sea after being back home in Canada for the last 6 months. They accompanied us on our trip to Loreto on Saturday where we did a little sight seeing and shopping. When we stopped for lunch at a little cafe in town the words "Gig Harbor" caught our attention from a neighboring table, so Carly asked them if they were from Gig Harbor. Well, I turned around to see some familiar faces from back home! They aren't from Gig Harbor, but they are all members of Corinthian Yacht Club of Tacoma and sailed down with this year's Baja Ha Ha! Their boats, Kokomo, Intuition and Sound Effect are moored here in Puerto Escondido with us. Small world.

Today was a great adventure! We drove up to an old mission -- the 2nd to be built in the Baja Californina region. The 1st is the mission in Loreto, but this one was just fascinating as it hasn't been remodeled as that one has and you could feel how old it was. Built in the 1700's it was awe inspiring. And the drive to it up in the mountains was simply beautiful with several date palm oases along the winding road and a panoramic view of the Sea of Cortez in spots.

Tomorrow it's off to the airport for Carly, then we'll return and prepare Cetus to begin the journey down to La Paz, weather permitting.

When we left Puerto Escondido on Wednesday morning we planned to go to Isla Coronado but the weather forecast sounded like there could be some north wind in the night so we went to Puerto Balanda on Isla Carmen which has a bit better northern protection.

We had a fantastic day with perfect weather -- snorkeled with LOTS of bright colored fish and did a little beach walking and lots of relaxing, reading and talking and ended the night with a rousing game of Yahtzee.

The winds did come up a bit in the night, but it was a calm anchorage. The forecast for today called for flat calm so we decided it was a good day to hop over to Isla Coronado. So we hauled the anchor and when we got out of the protected harbor we were greated by some short choppy waves from the north and had a fairly rolly 8 mile trip over to Isla Coronados where we ducked in on the south side of the island to get out of the waves. If it does indeed become flat calm later today, we will go around to the east side of the island to the pretty white sand lagoon.

For now we're happy to be anchored in the pretty blue water and out of the rocky sea -- another beautiful day in paradise.

Carly flew in to Loreto yesterday and today we're heading out to the nearby islands for a few days to enjoy some swimming, beach combing, kayaking and snorkeling -- looks like we've got some perfect weather for it!

Our long travel day we had planned for yesterday turned even longer when we changed our destination along the way.

When we left Santo Domingo a little before 7 am we planned on a long day traveling to the popular anchorage at San Juanico some 45 miles away. No wind was forecast so it would be motoring the whole way. Luckily, the currents were with us, the seas were flat and we had a freshly cleaned bottom so we motored along at good speeds for old Cetus averaging about 6 knots (we usually use 5 knots as a planning number when calculating when we should reach our destination whether it's power or sail it's a good working number).

As we approached San Juanico, a couple hours earlier than we'd anticipated a swell began to pick up from the East. The anchorage is open to the East, so we knew it would be pretty rocky and rolly in there until the swell subsided. Then we heard someone from the anchorage talking to someone else that would be coming in later that day and they confirmed our fears that it was pretty rocky in there -- plus it was getting crowded with 6 boats in there and 4 more (including us) on their way. So I checked the GPS to see how long it would take us to get the the next stop on our itinerary: Isla Coronados. It was only 18 miles further and at the current speed it said we could be there by 5:30 pm -- sounds good, until you consider that sunset is at 5:45. It would be close -- especially if we hit some contrary current or winds that could slow us down. With the prospect of an uncomfortable night and the thoughts of having more time at lovely little Coronados, we decided to take our chances and go for it and our luck held. We dropped our anchor off the beautiful white sand beach protected from the rolly east swell at about 5:15 and we were swimming in the turquoise water at sunset! The anchorage was so calm it felt like we were at a dock last night and this morning we enjoyed kayaking and beachcombing and plan a hike to the top of the volcano tomorrow -- nice to be back in paradise.

We spent about 10 days on this lovely island on our way north last Spring, and it is still one of our very favorite spots in the Sea of Cortez -- it's a postcard perfect picture of paradise and we are thrilled to be here again to enjoy a couple days of "vacation" before we go into Puerto Escondido to have the boat hauled out to paint the bottom on Monday.

What a wonderful blog. We are sitting in the rain looking at our new dinghy.......

We're goin' sailing, sailing.....

11/03/2010, Santa Domingo, Bahia Conception

Had a nice little downwind sail from Punta Civato where we've been holed up waiting for the strong northers to die down so the buffalo would quit running and today was the day! We sailed the 14 miles with our Genoa out and it was a bit rolly with the remnants of the waves from the norther, but not too bad. We had a pod of about 100 dolphin join us for a half hour or so and they put on quite a show! It's great to be sailing again!

This anchorage is a bit rocky, as we've heard it could be, but we only plan to spend the night and be on our way tomorrow.

That is so awesome!!! We can't wait! today is 145 days in our count down..... For me any way. Jeanne gets to stop working 30 days sooner than I do! Now that's gonna be tough!!

Keep up the great posts!! At this point we are living vicariuosly thru the both of you!!

Ahhhhhh.... we're cruising again

10/30/2010, Punta Chivato, Sea of Cortez

It was a pleasant day for our first time out traveling in the boat in 3 months. Sunny skies, smooth seas and dolphin jumping at our bow, but no wind for sailing so we motored the nearly 30 miles to Punta Chivato, one of our favorite stops when we headed north last April. We plan to spend 2 or 3 days here before moving on since a moderate Norther is expected to blow through Tuesday and we think this is the perfect spot to wait it out.

No internet, so I can't post any pictures, but we enjoyed a gorgeous sunset last night and had a great swim in the 70 something degree water. This is a nice little piece of paradise.

Despite the nasty cold I came down with a few days ago, my trip back home to Cetus in Santa Rosalia went very smoothly.

I had 3 large duffel bags full of "stuff" in addition to my 2 carry ons and I was a bit concerned first of all, how I was going to manage schlepping them from place to place, but most of all how I would get through customs without any problems.

I had a 6 am departure scheduled from SeaTac and my original plan was to be dropped off at the Inn at Gig Harbor where I would catch the Airport Shuttle, but my wonderful friend Liz bought me a trip to the airport in a town car -- she really saved the day! He was able to drop me -- and my heavy, awkward bags -- off right in front of the terminal where I could get a cart to push them in, where if I'd taken the shuttle, they let you off down in the bottom floor of the parking garage and it would have been a much bigger struggle to get them to the check in counter.

Check in went well, too. I was afraid a couple of my bags would be over the weight limit, but the heaviest weighed in at 49.5 so I was good to go and by the time I got through security and walked down to my gate, the plane had begun boarding so I walked right in without having to wait. Perfect!

I had a brief lay over in LA for my flight to Loreto then we were off. Once we touched down in Loreto the next major hurtle would be getting through customs because I did have a few "boat parts" with me. They did ask me about what was in the big bag after it went through xray and I said I had a couple things for the boat but that I had a list (friends had told me that having one might help if there were questions) and when I pulled out the list that was with my 10 year temporary import certificate that we got when we entered Mexico, he said that's all he needed to see. But I still had to push the famous Red Light/ Green Light button.

That's Mexico's system for determining who's luggage gets searched (though they will look if there's something odd looking on the xray) and it's always a bit nerve wracking -- for even though I'm not taking anything illigal into Mexico, it's still a very time consuming orderal and who knows what they might find suspicious and want some examination on. But luck was with me and I got the green!

Then it was off to the bus station. I had no idea when the next bus to Santa Rosalia would be leaving and figured I'd probably have a three or four hour wait in the small station, but once again things went smoothly and as I was purchasing my ticket, the bus pulled into the station! I bought a bottle of water and made a trip to the bano (bathroom) and I was on the road again.

Three hours after boarding the bus, and 14 hours after leaving Liz's house, we pulled into the terminal in Santa Rosalia and Terry and I lugged the bags the short distance (maybe about a block all the way to the boat) and we began unloading all the "stuff" -- it was like Christmas in July!

Wow, I hope our travels next week go as smoothly! We are pretty nervous bringing back a dingy but we do have our import permit.

Cross your fingers we get a green light and that we see you two soon!

07/10/2010 | Dave C.

Welcome home Heidi! It was good seeing you in the "Haba". Glad that your trip went swimmingly.

My trip to the States

boy it's cold up here.....07/03/2010, Gig Harbor, Washington

I haven't been doing any blog updates since I flew up to Washington over a week ago. I have a wedding to attend this weekend and have been enjoying visiting with family and friends while I'm here for two weeks.

As enjoyable as it has been, I'm anxious to get back down to Cetus with Terry and Rosie next Thursday and get back to the simple cruising life and the beautiful Sea of Cortez.

I'm ready and excited for the challenge of surviving a Summer in the Sea!

Our good friend Vicky from the boat Inspiration at Sea flew from El Salvador to La Paz last week so she could drive her van home to Canada. We caught a ride with her when she passed though Santa Rosalia and had a wonderful trip up the Baja with her.

It was a 14 hour day from the time we set out until we were checked in to our hotel in Chula Vista, but it all went very fast with all the amazing scenery along the way. Mexico's Highway 1 that runs the length of the Baja jumps from the Sea of Cortez, then up through the middle and along the Pacific Coast so the terrain was constantly changing and we were fascinated all day long. I snapped lots of pictures through the windows of the moving vehicles -- most places there isn't any shoulder on the narrow two way road to pull over-- both on the way up in the van and then on the bus ride back down and they are posted in our photo gallery under Roadtrip.

The main purpose of this adventure was to get to San Diego and buy some supplies that aren't available down here (at least at a reasonable price) and especially some things we wouldn't be able to bring down on an airplane. Specifically bottom paint for our planned haulout next fall and some special liquid cleaners for the windows and such, plus the CO2 cartridges for our soda maker (by Soda Stream -- we just LOVE it -- I'll put a link to their web page to the right).

We enjoyed a good night's sleep after the long drive (Vicky continued on for a couple more hours to a friends house in Newport!) we took the short walk to the nearby Enterprise Car Rental office and got a car for a couple days. We spent the next two days driving around San Diego to gather the various things on our list -- the majority of the purchases being at West Marine. In addition to the boat supplies we purchased food, clothing, water toys, DVDs and a few "household" items.

Back at the motel we removed packaging and played mental Tetris to get all of our purchases into the few bags and backpack that we felt we would be able to manage when we walked across the border to the Tijuana Bus station.

In between all of our running around searching for hard to find items (a new cover for Carly's surfboard for one) we managed to squeeze in some fun and went to the Galley Restaurant at the Chula Vista marina to see one of our favorite entertainers, Gary Seiler, do his regular Wednesday night show there. Then the next day we saw a movie (without subtitles!)

Friday morning we checked out of the motel and returned the car and had them drop us off at the border. Now we'd heard that walking across the border is pretty easy and they don't search everything you bring in, but we were really surprised that they don't even look at your passport! We got out of the car and walked about a block down an open air corridor with a few official looking people milling about, but nobody even looked our way and before we knew it we saw gates that led out into the streets of Tijuana!

That's when the fun began! We knew that the bus station was a short walk from the entry, but we weren't entirely sure where to go. We waited a few minutes by a tourist info booth, but when it didn't open at its scheduled time we walked through the gate where we saw lots of taxis thinking that would be the easiest way to go, even though it's a short distance.

Well, they immediately came to us and I asked how much to the bus station and we were surprised when he answered $15 -- it should have been more like $5. But another man (who seemed to be in charge of the drivers) said it would be $10 so we said what the heck and went with the guy. Terry made the comment that he didn't feel to good about the situation and then when the guy started driving far from the border crossing area (where we had been told by several cruisers we'd find the bus station) we both started getting a little nervous. When we grilled him on where he was going he said to the main bus station and that the one by the border was small and this would be better. Well, that explained the high fare for the trip, but we were still pretty leary about where this guy was taking us as we passed thru some "colorful" parts of Tijuana.

Finally the bus station appeared -- and we were very relieved that we hadn't made some stupid mistake. We were also glad to be out at the big station since it was about a two hour wait till the next bus south, and this station was set up more like a small airport with decent waiting areas and some shops and food vendors.

Then we were off! All set for our 15 hour trip to Santa Rosalia we got comfortable in our seats (unfortunately they weren't as comfortable as I'd hoped -- the buses have seen a lot of miles and even though they are "deluxe" they're old and worn) and enjoyed reading and watching the scenery until darkness fell. Then we read and dozed jumping off the bus at various stops for potty breaks and to stretch our legs.

At 7:00 pm (we started at noon) the driver pulled into a small station and announced that we'd be there one or two hours because something was wrong with the bus and they'd be sending a new one. So our 15 hour trip was getting longer.... Well the driver didn't speak English and there was only one other gringo on board (who spoke a little more Spanish than us) we couldn't really get a good grip on what was wrong with the bus or when the new bus would be coming along. After a couple hours (we could sit in the bus or the station or wander around) we got the idea that the new bus was actually going to be the next southbound bus that was scheduled to leave Tijuana at 4 pm. We kind of suspect that the problem with the bus was that it wasn't full enough (there were only about 12 of us on there since the majority that had filled it in Tijuana had gotten off in Ensenada and points north) and they wanted to save money by combining the two -- much like the airlines are doing now when they cancel flights that aren't full enough.

At 11 pm the bus showed up and we transferred our luggage to the new bus and were on our merry way. This bus was even more uncomfortable than the first one, but we managed to doze and the time actually went fairly quickly. We pulled into the Santa Rosalia station 19 hours after we left Tijuana. Luckily that station is only about a block from the marina so we were quickly back aboard Cetus and putting away all of our new goodies before settling in for a nice long nap.

All and all it was a very good trip, though a few times in the night I did start thinking of the bus ride as a bit more "ordeal" than "adventure", but all's well that ends well and we've got our new stuff!

That "something's wrong with the bus" deal happened to us on our way back to Seattle from San Carlos except it was a flight. Delayed us for a whole day but they did put us up in a fancy hotel for the night. Glad you made it back safely! I'm not sure I have the cojones to take a cab in Tijuana!

06/15/2010 | Ray and Sandy Klatt

Wow! What a trip! I can see when we get down there I'm never leaving the boat!...I guess I'll just do without stuff and eat dirt. Ha! Actually, sounds like a really great adventure glad everything turned out okay in the end.

Our Return to San Francisquito

05/30/2010, Bahia San Francisquito

We had a pleasant run down here from Punta Alercan on Friday -- very light winds so we motorsailed (and made lots of water!). We checked out two possible anchorages along the way, deciding to continue on to the known comfort of this bay. We were entertained along the way by numerous whale sightings and the closest was when one passed right in front of the boat, only about 10 feet in front of us!

We had a great hike across the desert hills to some nearby beaches. We're constantly amazed at the fascinating geology of the Baja -- I don't even know how to describe it.

Yesterday we had our first encounter with the bees that we've heard can be such a problem here in the Sea of Cortez. They come to the boats in search of fresh water and we've heard stories of boats being swarmed and their crews having to stay below until they finally leave. After we got back from our hike we went for a swim (a very short swim -- the water still is very cold here) and after we showered and hung our swimsuits out to dry a bee came by. I was afraid he might be a scout, and it wasn't long before a few more showed up. Soon there were maybe a couple hundred bees covering my swimsuit and other clothes which were hanging on the lifeline, apparently sucking the fresh water out They weren't bothering us in the cockpit, but we went down below all the same and after about an hour, when the clothes had dried they went on their way. We have nets and screens over all the openings, so we don't have to worry about bees or other bugs getting inside. After everything dried -- maybe an hour later -- they all left.

Today we awoke to what is usually a delight, but soon took on a sad note. We had several dolphin swimming around in our anchorage and as we sat and watched them we could tell that one of them was pushing something around and looking closer with the binoculars we discovered it was a small dolphin. It appeared that the baby had died, but the mother wasn't giving up and kept nosing it and lifting it trying to get it to swim. Sometimes she's just float by it with her nose touching in for a long time -- it was just heart wrenching. They're still out there as I'm writing this.

It's Memorial Day Weekend -- and the first time in 4 years we haven't spent it in Indianapolis watching the Indy 500!

We've begun our trek south towards Santa Rosalia and our first stop is in the beautiful anchorage just south of Punta Alacran (Scorpion Point).

Once again we've found a long white sand beach and beautiful turquoise water with some great hiking and plan to stay another day at least.

On shore is a small collection of deluxe yurts on shore forming the interesting all-inclusive resort, Las Animas Wilderness Retreat, that is only accessible by boat as it is 15 miles to the nearest road. It's a beautiful spot for a remote get-a-way and the yurts look clean and comfortable.

Been following you all for a while now. Really like your comments...keep it up. We're heading to Mexico this July after the San Juan's. Currently in Bellingham headed north. We're on the blog as S/V Pure Joy.

Checking out the summer home....

Gull nest on Isla Pardita05/16/2010, Bahia de Los Angeles

We're currently anchored off the village in Bahia de Los Angeles -- I wanted to check out what was available in this small village since it's where we plan to spend the hot summer months of August thru October. So right now I'm in the internet cafe and amongst other things updating the blog and adding pictures to the remote posts I've made along the way and some photos to the photo gallery.

On the way up here we stopped at one of the Midriff Islands, Isla Pardita. It was an interesting stop -- the gulls had egg filled nests right along the shoreline and would create a racket and kind of dive bomb us as we would near them. The big drawback to the island were the number of bobos that surrounded the boat! Bobos are little gnat like flies that don't seem to bite, but are extremely irritating as they don't fly off you if you shake your arm -- you actually have to swat at the pesky little buggers. They aren't a problem if there's wind, and they seem to leave at sunset -- plus we have screens to keep them out of the boat and a mosquito net in the cockpit, but we didn't see any sense in sitting there with the bobos so we only stayed one night then on to BLA.

We'll stay somewhere in the bay (there are many anchorages) then start slowly harbor hopping back down to San Fransquito, then on to Santa Rosalia mid June.